maanantai 22. helmikuuta 2016

Workshops.. done! - next stop Uganda

On week 7, we had two workshops with several of our key partners in this project. On Wednesday Feb 17th we had a workshop with Unicef and on the next day the workshop included Unicef, Biolan and Huussi ry. The purpose of the workshops was to explain the concepts that we have developed to our partners and to figure out which steps to take next.

For a reminder, we began both of the workshops with short introductionary presentations regarding the current situation of our group and the work that we've been doing. After this we presented the concepts that we had developed in the previous few weeks. The feedback from the concepts were both positive and negative. However, it was concluded that we have to revise the concepts before the field trip.

Katariina giving the introduction to the workshop in Helsinki Think Company

We also got feedback fresh from Uganda through Skype

The second workshop on Thursday ended with a great conversation about the project

During the next two weeks we will plan the field trip and decide what we will do there. The concepts will definately change when we get more information from the local people about the actual situation in the project area.. it will be very interesting!

perjantai 5. helmikuuta 2016

Emptying latrines: an expensive duty

Although the UniWASH Uganda 2016 is still only halfway through, our group has already discovered many obstacles to overcome. The goal is to find a model to make make school latrines sustainable, financially and environmentally, so that children will have access to a critical hygiene facility that is operational in the long run without foreign aid. However, after understanding the background of the project, I began to realize some fundamental points that can serve as guidelines to the future of building and maintaining latrines.

Firstly, we must understand that latrines are not like WCs. They require emptying. When planning to build a latrine, one must also plan on the emptying of the latrine during it's service life. Clearly, the latrines built in the target schools near Gulu had little (or inaccurate) financial outlook. It is like using a garbage can without first knowing who's emptying it.

The second point is then, why does emptying latrines cost so much money? The reason is because specialized equipment is needed to carry out the work. While use of smaller equipment like the Gulper provides cheap alternatives to latrine emptying, the hygienic risks are also higher, meaning more training is needed if such equipment is to be used effectively. Training takes time and money, something that is rather impractical if to be implemented in a large scale (because it involves little incentive structures). Even though larger machines like septic trucks and Vactugs do a cleaner and quicker job than Gulpers, they are expensive. Getting large machines to remote countryside areas is also also difficult and costly.

This above leads me to my last point, which raises the question, why do latrines need big machinery to operate? Can frugality be part of the design of the latrine so that it can be independent of big machinery? I believe so. The equipment needed to empty latrines nowadays are all there to deal with one main problem, gravity. Emptying latrines means transferring sludge from the latrine to a transport to be taken away. Unfortunately, that process is always against gravity. Many types of machinery are designed to combat the gravitation pull of the sludge, often making the process of latrine emptying messy and costly.

So to conclude my thoughts, I would like to ask the next latrine designers to think of how to make gravity work in your favor rather than against you. If sludge can simply flow from the latrine into the transport container, it would solve the largest financial obstacle our group is facing now.

Concept building in process...

For the past month our team has been building up concept scenarios for the latrine emptying and how the Human Waste Based Fertiliser (HWBF) concept would work. Here are few pictures from our brainstorming session...
Concept building in process...

Could we utilise the local motorcycles "Boda-Bodas" in latrine emptying..?